Australia Building Approvals Tumble 20.0% In December

The total number of building permits issued in Australia plummeted a seasonally adjusted 20.0 percent on month in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday – standing at 16,891.

That missed forecasts for a decline of 7.6 percent following the upwardly revised 12.6 percent spike in November (originally 11.7 percent).

On a yearly basis, building permits sank 5.5 percent – again missing expectations for an increase of 11.5 percent following the upwardly revised 18.1 percent surge in the previous month (originally 17.1 percent).

Approvals for private sector houses gained 1.0 percent on month and 5.5 percent on year to 9,904. Approvals for private sector dwellings excluding houses plunged 39.2 percent on month and 18.4 percent on year to 6,807.

Dwelling approvals decreased in the Australian Capital Territory (35.0 percent), the Northern Territory (12.9 percent), New South Wales (5.6 percent), South Australia (2.4 percent), Western Australia (1.3 percent) and Queensland (0.8 percent), but increased in Tasmania (3.1 percent) and Victoria (2.5 percent).
The value of total building approved fell 17.8 percent in December. The value of residential building plummeted 25.4 percent and the value of non-residential building dipped 3.4 percent.

Also on Thursday:
• The ABS said that export prices in Australia were up 2.8 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2017. That beat forecasts for an increase of 2.0 percent following the 3.0 percent decline in the three months prior.

The rise was driven by higher prices received for coal, coke and briquettes (+9.0 percent), petroleum, petroleum products and related materials (+19.7 percent), non-ferrous metals (+9.8 percent), cereals and cereal preparations (+7.3 percent) and gold, non-monetary (+2.5 percent).

Import prices advanced 2.0 percent on quarter versus expectations for a gain of 1.5 percent following the 1.6 percent decline in Q3.

The rise was driven by higher prices paid for petroleum, petroleum products and related materials (+14.0 percent), fertilizers (excluding crude) (+23.1 percent), inorganic chemicals (+13.1 percent) and organic chemicals (+10.0 percent).

On a yearly basis, export prices were up 2.4 percent and import prices added 1.4 percent.

• The manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in January, and at a faster rate, the latest survey from the Australian Industry Group showed with a Performance of Manufacturing Index score of 58.7.

That's up from 56.2 in December, and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

It also marks the 16th straight month of expansion, which is the longest winning streak in 13 years.

All seven sub-indexes expanded, including production, deliveries, new orders, stocks, sales, employment and exports.

by RTT Staff Writer

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